Marvel Cinematic Universe profile: A look at Sam Rockwell’s career

Sam Rockwell played Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2, answering the question, what would Tony Stark look like if he were a swindling sleazeball?

Back in the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sam Rockwell turned in an enjoyably alluring performance that appropriately rivaled Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. It is still one of the best solo MCU appearances, making Rockwell’s return to the franchise a commonly discussed possibility. Even fans that do not count Iron Man 2 among their favorite superhero movies would be negligent to overlook Rockwell’s on-point presentation of the despicable Justin Hammer.

Regrettably, Hammer directly butts heads with Stark only a handful of times in Iron Man 2. The unique aspect about Rockwell’s magnetism as Stark’s foil is his faux charisma; as much as he tries to emulate his adversary, he truly is the anti-Iron Man, with his fake tan, ingenuine personality, and lack of technological expertise.

Even Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash sees through Hammer’s incompetence and only breaks bread with Hammer because he broke him out of jail. Unlike the deadliest of Marvel villains, where you may want the Avengers to completely wipe them out, Rockwell crafts Hammer as such an unlikeable jerk that you wish someone would just smack him in the face.

Sam Rockwell has a bit of a history portraying smooth-talking swindlers. He is just as entertaining a few years after Iron Man 2 when he operates a dognapping scheme in Martin McDonagh’s outrageously funny Seven Psychopaths. In his earlier work, Rockwell shows he has superstar quality acting chops as a game show host who works for the CIA in George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and then he runs a cool con with his partner, Nicolas Cage, in Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men. He also amusingly tries to pull a few lame tricks as a sex addict in Clark Gregg’s Choke. More recently, his imitation of George W. Bush in Vice earned him an Oscar nomination.

Rockwell is also capable of erudite and introverted material, such as in Duncan Jones’ Moon, where mysterious events on his solitary lunar mission cause serious doubts and lead to hysterical behavior. In Conviction, he imbues a subtle rage and deep despondency as a man wrongly convicted of murder. He is also wonderful in smaller dramatic parts in The Green Mile and The Assassination of Jesse James.

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Rockwell re-teams with director Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, conjuring his repertoire to combine the best of all his finest performances that came before. Throughout the black comedy, he is simultaneously contemptible and bold, foolish yet determined, irrationally incendiary but ultimately self-reflective and forgivable. Rockwell believably takes Officer Dixon from a state of despair to uncontrollably violent within the same astonishing take.

Three Billboards is Rockwell’s coup de maître. However, while it is not one of his big-screen outings, I would be remiss not to mention his beautiful albeit intensely tragic portrayal of Bob Fosse in the recent FX television miniseries Fosse/Verdon. Both Rockwell and Michelle Williams are to die for as the legendary musical entertainers. Despite his cinematic accolades and deserving Academy Award, he does some of the best work of his career in Fosse/Verdon.

Sam Rockwell’s Top 10 Movie Roles

1. Officer Dixon in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Sam Bell in Moon
3. Kenny Waters in Conviction
4. Wild Bill Wharton in The Green Mile
5. Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
6. Charley Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
7. George W. Bush in Vice
8. Billy Bickle in Seven Psycopaths
9. Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2
10. Victor Mancini in Choke

Sam Rockwell has built quite the collection of fine performances in his career, and Iron Man 2 ranks among his ten best, beating out other genre fare, such as Galaxy Quest and Cowboys and Aliens. His memorable role in the third Marvel Cinematic Universe picture was followed up with a cameo in the Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King. With the current absence of armored Avengers like Iron Man and War Machine, there may be an opening for the aspirational weapons developer to make a resurgence somewhere in the MCU’s future.

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Sam Rockwell will soon be appearing in Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi’s wartime satire, Jojo Rabbit, opposite MCU veteran Scarlett Johansson.

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